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ASH Daily News for 23 August 2011

HEADLINES

  • Kent council criticised over £24m in tobacco shares

    Kent County Council (KCC) has been criticised for investing nearly £24m in four tobacco firms as part of its pension fund portfolio.

    It has invested about £13.5m in the Altria Group, £3.6m in Philip Morris £3.5m in Imperial Tobacco and £3.4m in Japan Tobacco.

    The authority said the amount was 1% of all its investments and it had a duty to get the best return for its members.

    Critics have said the council should avoid such companies.

    Martin Dockrell, from the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said although the council was legally obliged to get the best return for investors it was not obliged to invest in tobacco.

    He added: "Kent is definitely at the upper end of the scale.

    "We are aware of many councils and even NHS trusts that have invested in tobacco companies, one or two, but to have four such large investments is quite extraordinary.

    "Share prices are high right now but the future for tobacco companies is grim with falling sales, tougher legislation and law suits from around the world. Now could be a good time to cash in those shares and invest in something more sustainable."

    Source: BBC News - 22 August 2011
    Link: http://bbc.in/qD1ToL

  • Smoking shisha: how bad is it for you?

    Usually shared between friends, shisha is now associated with Middle Eastern cafe culture, but has become increasingly popular in the UK in recent years with cafes popping up in cities across the country. It's a phenomenon that has worried primary care trusts (PCTs) across the UK, which think that, unlike cigarette smokers, shisha users are unaware of the health risks.

    Earlier this year, Leicester PCT's Stop Smoking service said it had seen an alarming rise in the number of teenagers in the city smoking shisha. 

    Source: The Guardian - 22 August 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/r7Na68

  • Lung cancer screening pilot begins in Liverpool

    Merseyside residents are today being recruited for a study which could cut deaths by lung cancer.

    Doctors said they hoped the screening project at Liverpool university could make a “significant” difference to the number of people who die from the disease.

    Researchers are approaching more than 85,000 participants from the region and other parts of the UK.

    The pilot project will investigate whether a national lung cancer screening programme could be started up.

    People aged between 50 and 75 chosen at random from Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley will receive letters asking them to take part in the trial and respond to a questionnaire.

    Researchers will also look at the expertise and technology at cancer centres in the UK to see if a screening programme is practical.

    The team is part of the Liverpool Lung Project, funded by the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

    Source: Liverpool Echo - 23 August 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/pffmwa

  • Prenatal smoking effects 'worse than thought'

    The effects of prenatal smoking on neurodevelopment in infants may be worse than previously thought, according to research, with some problems potentially being picked up in newborn hearing screening examinations.

    Research, published in the Journal of Human Capital, found that maternal smoking may cause as much as a 40 per cent increase in the probability of being at risk of developmental problems in those aged between three and 24 months old.

    In addition, those born to poorer mothers were more at risk of developmental issues.

    Researchers explained that wealthier smoking women consumed fewer cigarettes and noted that being of higher socioeconomic status could offset some of the adverse smoking effects on children.

    Source: MediPlacements - 22 August 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/qfw2RL

  • Australia: Tobacco companies lose appeal in fight against plain packaging

    The Full Bench of the Federal Court  has dismissed an appeal against the Government's refusal to publicly disclose the secret legal advice it used to approve plans for plain packaging.

    Cigarette giant British American Tobacco wanted access to a document prepared in 1995 about the proposal but their request under Freedom of Information was refused by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

    They appealed that decision to the Federal Court unsuccessfully.

    Source: The Herald Sun - 23 August 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/onJOSj

  • USA: Gruesome images upset tobacco companies: new lawsuit invokes 1st & 5th ammendment rights

    Those shocking and repulsive images we’ve seen on cigarette packages must be working; four of the five largest tobacco companies are up in arms over the FDA approval of nine new images.

    The new labels, which must cover at least 20 percent of the packaging and include a government stop-smoking hot-line, have pushed the tobacco companies to take legal action, suing the FDA to overturn the law.

    The argument being made is that the warnings no longer simply convey facts to allow people to make a decision about whether or not to smoke. They instead force companies to place the government anti-smoking campaign more prominently on their packs than their own brands.

    The companies maintain that under the first and fifth amendments, as private entities, they have the rights to say, or not say, what they want.

    At the base of it all, however, is not a complex constitutional right, but the companies’ fear that the new labels will make customers “depressed, discouraged, and afraid” of their products.

    Source: Legally Easy - 22 August 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/q3s4HU